Fin woke up earlier than usual. He opened his eyes, expecting the light to pour into his small window. Instead, it trickled in like a leaking gutter on a misty day. It was still mostly dark, but for whatever reason, he felt well-rested.

He stood up and donned yesterday's clothes. On the farm, he would have needed to wash the caked mud off his his shirt from the day prior, but he hadn't been around dirt or anything to soil his clothes. He paced his room, considering waking up Brando, but decided against the idea. Brando would probably get upset. Instead, he considered his plan to leave.

After four laps around his room, Fin decided to pace the halls of the castle. As soon as he stepped outside, he heard the pattering of feet running away from him. It was strange, but he realized that Isabel had most likely hired someone to wake her if he showed his face. He made a mental note to leave his room sporadically throughout all hours of the night. That is if the plan he was scheming didn't work.

After wandering around for a quarter of an hour, Isabel rounded on him. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm an early riser," Fin guessed before turning the question back on her. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm up to tell you to go back to your room," Isabel snarled.

"Not going to happen," Fin stood his ground. "You go back to your room."

"I'll tell the guards."

"For what?" Fin asked before continuing his morning exploration. Isabel must have decided it was a futile battle and didn't reply. She remained quiet and stalked silently in tow.

When the sun had risen to a decent hour, Fin visited Brando. Two knocks and he opened the door to find the man completely submerged in blankets and pillows. After waking him, he told him the plan. He then repeated the plan when Brando was fully awake.

Brando shot out of bed and put himself together. In a matter of minutes, he was dressed and out the door. Fin returned to his room and waited.

Hours later, a knock came to his door, and he answered. He opened it, expecting Brando, but found Brixton instead.

"I have a letter for you, my lord," Brixton announced, holding out the folded white parchment.

Fin opened his door and invited the young man in. "Did Isabel hire you to follow me around?" He asked, taking the letter and breaking the seal.

"No, my lord," Brixton said with an honest tone. "She has Todrey and Phillip follow you."

"Brixton, I might need a favor. Can you hang on a moment?" Fin asked, unfolding the letter and reading it. It was a summons from the princess to take a stroll around the garden at noon. His new time limit to leave was noon. "Actually, I might have to ask you for two favors."

Brando entered the room to find the young page waiting patiently while Fin drafted what looked like his fourth letter, or maybe his fifth, by the look of the crumpled papers around him.

"Please tell me you're not, uh," Brando hesitated at the sight of Brixton eavesdropping. "Informing people of... certain things?"

"I've been invited for a light stroll at noon," Fin said, lifting up his feather quill so it didn't drop ink on his sixth letter revision. "I am rescheduling for a different day."

Brando leaned down to inspect one of the failed letters, and Fin snatched it from his hands. "I can't let you read this."

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"Why?" Brando asked, moving toward another.

Fin started snatching the scattered papers and feeding them to his inventory. "I'm not very proud of some of these."

Brando relented and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, you win. Anyway, I brought the goods."

Fin walked over and looked out of the door. In the hallway stood a cheerful looking dwarf guarding a hand cart. There was a sheet of fabric covering the load it carried.

"Do you think you can get the cart inside?" Fin asked, holding the door open.

"I think it'll fit. I've gotten bigger things into tighter spaces" The dwarf chuckled. "The name's Rosby."

Fin introduced himself and, after a brief hesitation, introduced Brixton.

The dwarf nodded to the boy. "It's a pleasure meeting you, young sir."

"My Beloved Dezi, I regret to inform you that I will not be available today…" Brando read from a crumpled piece of paper in his hands. "What is this? She didn't turn you, did she?"

Fin's face flushed red. At least Brando hadn't been reading one of the others. He wanted to give the impression that he was still interested in the courtship, so no one looked for him for the rest of the day. Hopefully, that would buy them enough time to escape. He couldn't explain why leaving on good terms or even with false romantic words was important. Surely the princess would understand that he didn't mean any of the heartfelt things he inscribed in his letter.

"It's all part of the plan," Fin finally said, and then added for the sake of the loose ends in the room, "To surprise her with this secret thing that we aren't talking about."

Fin went to his unfinished letter and made several more entries. When the ink was dry, he folded the paper and gave it to Brixton, along with some coins. "Please give this to the princess just before midday. The timing is important."

"And the other favor?" Brixton asked, tucking the letter in his jacket.

"If you see me running, tell whoever is chasing me that I went the other way."

When the boy left, Rosby pulled a hammer and chisel from his satchel. "I appreciate the job and all, but I have to warn you, I've never sculpted a thing in my life. I'm an accountant. Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"We don't need you to be a sculptor." Brando ripped the canvas sheet away from three stacked rocks. "We need you to look and sound like one."

"Are you saying that just because I'm four feet tall, I automatically look like I know how to carve stone?" Rosby huffed.

"Yes," Fin and Brando said in unison.

Fin knelt down in front of the dwarf. "No one would believe a human could build a perfect sculpture in under an hour, but they'll believe in you. Now, can you please start making chisel noises?"

After a long period of the constant ping of hammer on chisel, a knock sounded from the door.

Brando took the blanket off the bed and threw it toward Fin. "Pretend that you're naked. It will make the story more believable, and they'll be too embarrassed to stick around."

Without hesitation, Fin stripped off his tunic and undershirt and wrapped the pale green comforter around his waist. As soon as he was covered, Brando opened the door.

Isabel stood at the doorway with a guard on either side of her. "What is the meaning of all this noise?" She asked the pond of guilty faces.

"We are making a sculpture of the hero of the mine, your ladyship," Brando recited his rehearsed lines. "It should be done shortly."

Isabel stomped in the room while the dwarf covered the messy mound of small boulders. She towered over the dwarf and shot Fin a disapproving glance. "You three are up to no good. Also, by the look of it, you aren't nearly finished with anything."

"I carve the stone from the inside out, ma'am," Rosby patted the canvas-covered rock. "It's an ancient dwarven technique."

"Will you please get out? I'm not decent." Fin said to the crusty old woman. "Who gave you permission to barge in here anyway?"

The guards began shuffling their feet. Finally, one said, "Let's go," but waited for Isabel to follow.

"I'm keeping an eye on you," Isabel warned as she walked toward the guards. She mumbled some curses and slammed the door behind her.

"That went better than expected," Brando said cheerfully. "Carving the stone from the inside out, huh? Rosby, you're a genius."

"My price just went up three silver," Rosby said, continuing his arbitrary chiseling. "You're lucky you long leggers can't tell us apart."

"You get us out of here as planned, and we'll give you an extra gold for your trouble," Fin stated, looking through his inventory. He didn't have more than twenty-three copper coins on him. "Brando, please tell me you have the money from last night?"

Brando left the room and then returned with an overstuffed coin pouch in his hands. "She's still out there. Waiting," He said, tossing the bag in the air.

Fin caught the bag and flipped Rosby a gold coin. "That's your bonus." He removed half of the coins and tossed the bag Back to Brando. "We'll pay you the rest when we're out of here."

"Are we ready to go now?" Brando asked, attaching his coin purse to his belt.

Fin took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "I'm ready if you are."